How To Choose A Portable DVD Player

Portable DVD players are a popular travel entertainment gadget. Next time when you are waiting at the airport for a delayed flight, nervously shifting from foot to foot and dreaming of the time you can sink into that soft chair, put on your headphones and watch the latest episode of Modern Family – take a look around you. You will surely notice someone in the departure lounge feeling watching movies on their portable entertainment centre without a care in the world.

A portable DVD player has basically all the same functionality as your standard DVD player, with the only difference being its mobile form. Modern portable DVD players also come with a number of extras, like USB and SD card support, giving you even more options for loading media onto them.

Types of portable DVD players

On the design part, there are two types of portable DVD players. You have the ones with the screen folding up and down and the ones that look like tablets.

Folding DVD players are typically better for carrying around. They can stand on their own and don’t need to be mounted or backed up against something. Closing the screen when carrying the player around keeps it protected from damage.

14 Inch Portable DVD Player

Tablet DVD players are typically meant to be installed in vehicles.

8 Inch Car DVD Player

Both types provide equally fulfilling entertainment and your choice basically comes down to where and when you will be using the player.

What Matters When Choosing A Portable DVD Player

Screen size

For a great number of users this is a decisive factor when choosing all kinds of media. It goes without saying that a watching a movie on a big screen is way more enjoyable. With good resolution, you won’t miss out on any special effects of the latest blockbusters and watch your old-time favourites in great quality.

15.6 Inch Portable DVD Player

However, if you are looking for a DVD player that is easy to carry around, you may prefer a smaller screen. By compromising a bit of enjoyability, you may get a more mobile and sturdy device.

Some DVD players also feature a swivel screen, making it easy to adjust the device to give you a perfect viewing angle.

7 Inch TFT LED Screen + 270 Degree Rotation

 Anti-skip Feature

Anti-skip feature is an important element to consider when choosing a portable DVD machine. It will ensure that the player will not skip forward or freeze when bumped or moved around when it’s being carried.

Battery life

As with all portable devices, the whole idea of getting them presupposes that you will be using them on the go – and thus battery life becomes a highly important factor. Depending on intended use, you could look for a lower-priced DVD player that would offer from 1.5 to two hours of playback, or a more expensive one giving you 3 to 4 hours between charges.

Audio jacks

Most portable DVD players would come with one audio jack to plug in your headphones. However, if know that you will often need to share the device with others, you might look into finding a model that comes with two jacks or getting a splitter.

Audio + Video Connector

If you travel often and frequently stay at hotels, you may enjoy having the option of plugging your DVD player into the hotel’s TV and watching what you actually want instead of being stuck with the small selection of boring channels.

Supported Formats

Be noted that a Blu-ray DVD will not play in a regular DVD player. So if this is the format you are planning to go for, make sure that your portable DVD player is Blu-ray compatible.

You can also look for models that can play CD, MP3 or WMA. There are even DVD players that support JPEGs – so be sure to carefully check the specs and find out which formats can be played on your device.

Among other things, you may make your DVD watching experience better, by adding a few accessories. Since most portable DVD players come with rather small speakers, you may want to get a pair of bigger speakers or headphones to go with the DVD player.

Check out our portable DVD player collection here, and car DVD players here.